Roughnecks Surrender Early Goals in 3-2 Loss to Saint Louis FC

The Tulsa Roughnecks FC fell victim to a pair of early goals in St. Louis Saturday night, and was unable to overcome the early deficit in a 3-2 defeat to Saint Louis FC at Toyota Stadium. Jesus Ferreira scored both of the Roughnecks goals in the loss.

Saint Louis FC struck first with a goal in just the 4th minute. Right before the goal, STLFC had an opportunity for a free kick just outside the box after Nemanja Vukovic committed a foul. Wal Fall delivered a dangerous shot to Fabian Cerda’s right, making the keeper dive to his right to prevent the goal. The ball was booted out of bounds for a Saint Louis corner kick.

The corner was sent in from the right to the far post, and Fall was there to bury the goal into the back of the net to give STLFC the early 1-0 lead.

The Roughnecks first opportunity came just a few minutes later. In the 10th minute, a Tulsa corner was beautifully sent in to Josh Morton who sent a header to the upper ninety. But the Saint Louis defense was there to head the ball away, preventing the equalizer.

Just a few minutes later, STLFC doubled its lead. In the middle of the box, Kyle Greig sent in a perfect ball to Lewis Hilton that left him one-on-one with Cerda. There was nothing the Tulsa keeper could do as Hilton’s goal upped the STLFC to 2-0.

The high-scoring half continued in the 28th minute when Tulsa found the back of the net. Eti Tavares delivered a ball right in front of the goal that Saint Louis keeper Tomas Gomez could not smother. Ferreira was there to bury his second goal of the season, cutting the Tulsa deficit to 2-1.

The score remained the same going into the second half. In the 56th minute, Michael Gamble was battling for a ball, and miss-timed his tackle just inside the box to award Saint Louis a penalty kick. Fall shot the ball to the right, and Cerda dove to the left to give STLFC a 3-1 lead.

In the 63rd minute, Gamble was very close to redeeming himself and cutting the deficit. Ferreira delivered a cross in the middle of the box, but Gamble’s shot was stopped by Gomez.

Gamble was awarded another chance in the 84th minute. Tavares served a perfectly placed ball to the penalty area, but Gamble’s shot missed the upper-left corner.

Another chance to cut the deficit came just a few minutes later. Vukovic served a ball to the center of the box that Ferreira shot right into the hands of the keeper.

With the clock winding down in stoppage time, Ferreira was able to find the back of the net. Tulsa native D.J. Dean delivered a beautiful ball to the penalty area that Ferreira drilled into the bottom right corner, cutting the deficit to 3-2.

It would prove to be the final kick of the match as the referee blew the full-time whistle, giving Saint Louis FC the win.

It was the second straight 3-2 loss for the Roughnecks. Last Saturday, they fell 3-2 to the first-place Real Monarchs in Utah.

Tulsa lost despite holding a 15-9 advantage in shots and a 53-47% edge in time of possession.

The Roughnecks will continue their stretch of five straight away matches on Wednesday, August 29, with the first of two meetings with the Swope Park Rangers. Kickoff in Kansas City is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. CDT.